leadership for new managers docx

Robbi shook her head, and added, “His partner on this case.” Robbi was a thin woman who just turned thirty, but looked to be twenty something.. I don’t like to fly.” He was referring to

The Clone Murders

A Novel by Monte R Anderson Published by Monte R Anderson at Smashwords.

Copyright 2012 Monte R Anderson

Discover other works by Monte R Anderson at http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/monteranderson

http://www.monteranderson-author.com

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not puchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1—Thursday, October 9, 2031

Chapter 2—Undercover

Chapter 3—Friday, October 10, 2031

Chapter 4—National Research Council

Chapter 5—Bring in the Clones

Chapter 6—Saturday, October 11, 2031

Chapter 7—Undercover in the NRC

Chapter 8—Sunday, October 12, 2031

Chapter 9—Revist the Crime Scene

Chapter 10—Tuesday, October 14, 2031

Chapter 11—Wednesday, October 15, 2031

Chapter 12—Taylors’s Apartment

Chapter 13—Thursday, October 16, 2031

Chapter 14—Tactical Operations Center

Chapter 15—Friday, October 17, 2031

Chapter 16—First 7 A.M Briefing

Chapter 17—First Big Break

Chapter 18—First Interogration

Chapter 19—Second Interogation

Chapter 20—The Lie

Chapter 21—The Raid

Chapter 22—Mercy Hospital

Chapter 23—Saturday, Ocotber 18, 2031

Chapter 24 –Monday, October 30, 2031 (A Week Later)

About the Author

Connect with me

Acknowledgments

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Chapter 1—Thursday, October 9, 2031

Senator Steve Morgan took his TV off mute just in time to hear the talking head announce,

“The Fifth Clone is dead!” He was talking to Casmir (Cas) Novak, his campaign manager and best friend, and Cas’ partner, Roberta (Robbi) Kelly, while waiting for the CNN announcement from the National Science Academy

“We interrupt this program for this breaking news bulletin Margaret Two, also known as The Fifth Clone, was found dead in her lab yesterday, the apparent victim of an accidental

exposure to anthrax We take you to Caesar Murgo, our science reporter on the scene in

Springfield, Virginia Caesar, what is the latest on this story?”

The scene on the television changed to a young reporter standing in front of a large building

“Good morning, Chad I am standing outside the National Research Council where Margaret Two worked For security reasons we are not allowed inside This is what we know so far; sometime early yesterday morning Margaret Two was found lying on the floor of her lab Her assistant, Dr Becker found her at approximately 7:30 A.M Because she was working with anthrax, the FBI and CDC were called in to investigate The FBI has not confirmed the cause of death, but was quick to assure the public that no danger from an accidental release of anthrax exists A public announcement was delayed until the CDC team could verify that to prevent a panic We have been told that the CDC is performing the autopsy to determine the cause of death Since a medical examiner is not doing the autopsy, they must suspect that she died from exposure to anthrax Margaret Two worked in the R and D division of the National Research Council since being cloned from Dr Margaret Erikson four years ago

“She was continuing the work of Doctor Erikson, a Nobel Laureate, who died a couple of years ago in a vehicle accident, and who spent two decades trying to find a way to eradicate anthrax Insiders from the NRC say that Margaret Two was on the verge of another major

breakthrough in her research, and a possible Nobel Prize for the NRC Four previous clones also work at the NRC All the clones were declared national treasures three year ago by a unanimous vote of Congress; the first such living treasures Margaret Two was only four years old

biologically, but had the mental age of forty two, the age of Doctor Erikson when her knowledge was transferred to Margaret Two FBI investigators are still on the scene They hope to wrap up their investigation tonight Back to you, Chad.”

“Caesar, what is going on with the crowd behind you?” asked the anchor

“I was about to get to that, Chad Within an hour of learning of the death of the Fifth clone, people began to gather here Word traveled fast through the social networks Three groups have gathered One group is at the main entrance where a make shift memorial of flowers and candles

is growing Another group is protesting the use of stem cells for research That group is opposed

by a third group that supports the NRC, and is protesting the investigation by the FBI and CDC.” “Thank you, Caesar,” said the anchorman “More news as it happens on this national

tragedy Now let’s hear from our weatherman.”

Although Steve was informed previously, hearing it on CNN somehow seemed to make it official It came as a surprise to Cas and Robbi

Steve Morgan was involved in politics since starting high school Years of campaigning and serving in various offices has taken its toll on him Half his hair was gone, and the rest all gray, but he kept it neatly trimmed and symmetrical He wore what was left in a short pony tail with rainbow ends-red, white, and blue Steve wore the obligatory earrings in the shape of California;

a fad started by some female democrat congresswomen that was picked up by their male counter parts Now no senator or congressmen would dare go out in public without them He developed a pot belly since moving to DC seven years ago Steve always wore a tie

The senator’s office was decorated exactly like his old governor’s office in California; four over stuff chairs sat in front of his desk, the US flag and the California State flag were behind Steve, and framed him for those photo ops, and one entire wall was covered with photographs and memorabilia Robbi noticed several pictures with Cas in them

Senator Morgan turned the TV off, and turned to face Cas He sat silent for a minute as he watched Cas’ face, waiting for the CNN announcement to register He had asked Cas to fly in from LA for this meeting Cas was still trim at forty five, and still running five miles four or five days a week Steve envied Cas’ full head of hair that was salt and pepper with more salt than pepper around the temples

Steve broke the silence, “Such a great loss I will come right to the point I want you to investigate this incident I have reason to believe that this was no accident But first, we did not have time for proper introductions.” He stood up, and came around his desk with his hand

outstretched toward Robbi “And who is this lovely creature? Don’t tell me that you are finally dating, you sly dog.”

Robbi stood to shake the proffered hand “I am Roberta Kelly, pleased to meet you Senator, and no, I am not Cas’ date I am his partner.”

Steve raised his eyebrows, and gave Cas an inquiring glance Robbi shook her head, and added, “His partner on this case.” Robbi was a thin woman who just turned thirty, but looked to

be twenty something Cas considered her to be too thin Robbi considered herself to be lean and mean She stayed in shape by running, weight lifting, and judo She earned her black belt last year Robbi wore her hair in a short Pixie ever since her judo instructor grabbed her by the

shoulder length hair she used to wear, and threw her around the mat a few times

“Roberta is my niece,” interjected Cas “Actually, we are related by marriage She is the step-daughter of my brother You remember my older brother, Tim? You could say she is my step-niece I took the liberty of asking her to join me if you have no objections She made a successful career in industrial counter-espionage She was responsible for catching those Israelis agents who were trying to steal the plans for a civilian space shuttle a few years ago She has also provided consultation for me on a couple projects.”

“I recall that Israeli case,” said Steve “Yes, by all means We could use your expertise Welcome aboard Sit! Sit! And let me explain.” As everyone sat down again, Steve pushed a button on his desk A minute later his secretary opened the door “Mary, please have someone bring in some coffee Hold my calls for the next two hours.” He looked at Robbi, raised his eye brows, and held out his upturned palm seeking affirmation

“Tea for me, please,” she answered his unspoken question.

“Green tea or Earl Gray?” asked Mary

“Earl Gray.”

“Cas, you still drink your coffee black?” asked Mary

Cas nodded It was Robbi’s turn to give Cas an inquiring glance with raised eyebrows Cas ignored her

“Senator, you have a committee meeting in an hour and a half,” reminded Mary

“Right! Right! I know Cancel everything between now and The Committee meeting.” Steve always referred to the Senate Committee for Commerce, Science and Transportation as simply

‘The Committee’ He has chaired the committee for three years now, the youngest senator to do

so Turning back to his guests, “We have about an hour.”

After Mary closed the door Cas remarked, “Mary has not changed one bit She has been your secretary for how long now?”

“Well, ever since I was elected governor, but she has changed She is ten times more

efficient and twice as sassy Did you have a good flight to DC?

“We took the LANY I don’t like to fly.” He was referring to the LA-NY high speed rail that everyone called the ‘LANY’.”

Cas, I want you, and Roberta of course, to investigate this incident.”

“You can call me Robbi, Senator.”

“Okay! Call me Steve then As I was saying, I have reason to believe that this was not an accident I had a tip last night from someone inside the NRC that The Fifth Clone was murdered The tipster said that her death was made to look like an accident She also said that this whole clone business is not what it appears to be.”

Robbi started taking notes “That seems rather vague.”

“I think that, whoever she is, she does not want to implicate herself.”

Cas took out a pair of glasses, and also started taking notes “Why can’t the FBI

investigate?”

“The FBI got there about one hour after the body was found They will wrap up their

investigation by tonight They think it was an accident–no clues to the contrary.”

Robbi looked up from her notebook “Why not? Assuming, of course, that your CI is

correct.”

“In my opinion? Because these clones are too smart to leave any clues We have

investigated the NRC before, and always come up empty handed If someone in the NRC killed the Fifth Clone, she will easily out smart the FBI, and cover it up That is why I need you.”Robbi noted the identification of gender “She?”

“You will understand when you visit the NRC.”

“But why me?” asked Cas

“Now don’t go acting dumb on me.” Turning to Robbi, “Did you know that your step uncle here is a member of Mensa, the high IQ Society and ISI? ISI is a think tank of individuals who rank in the 99.9 percentile by IQ He is a very smart man In fact, if I had not been able to copy his homework in college I shudder to think what I might have become.”

“You might have become a president instead of a senator Don’t let him fool you He says things like that to disarm people He is very smart in his own rights He will charm you out of your vote or worst, out of your panties.”

“Now Cas, that’s not true anymore That was the old me before I had three failed marriages Luckily, I joined a support group…”

“The US Senate,” both Steve and Cas said at the same time.

“I guess you heard that one.”

“Yes, and it stopped being funny the fifth time you repeated it.”

“Anyway, I am not comfortable with this whole cloning business It just seems so…so…”

“Unnatural?” Robbi finished his sentence

“Exactly! Exactly! I believe in creating babies the old fashion way through hot, sweaty, lustful sex It is just not right to clone people Besides, the cost is exorbitant.”

“And, yet you have no children.” Cas mocked his old friend

“My one regret.”

Robbi stopped taking notes “Nonetheless, I am impressed I did not know that So, did you cheated off Cas in college?”

Steve smiled, “No comment!”

Robbi looked at Cas who nodded yes

“That is why I asked you here I need someone with enough intelligence to match wits with these clones I also need someone I can trust The NRC seems to have spies everywhere They know things before I do I need you to look at the bigger picture.”

“But I am a campaign manager and a political consultant I don’t know anything about investigating crimes.”

“Cas, you did some great things as my chief of staff in California, things that are still in place, and doing well You have the rare ability to see options that others miss Your clients have never lost an election, I might add Besides, I will put at your disposal, a great team from the FBI

to assist you.” He turned to Robbi, “Any ten people can identify a problem Five people out of those ten, and come up with a plan to solve that problem, and of those five, only one can actually execute that plan Your uncle is such a person.”

“He’s my partner, not my uncle.”

“Whatever You know what I mean.”

Cas shifted in his chair “If the FBI declares this an accident, what do you expect me to do? Sounds like a fait accompli.”

A knock on the door interrupted Cas as Mary walked in with a serving tray Steve raised a wait-a-minute finger, putting the conversation on hold Mary served the coffee and tea, dropped the agenda for the committee meeting on Steve’s desk, and left

Steve picked up the conversation, “I am not sure you can do anything, but I need someone I can trust to investigate Ever since the NRC made the first clone some eight years ago, they have been granted more and more funds The first clone cost over a billion dollars Now they far exceed what NASA use to get for funding during their hay day The US government has high hopes and expectations for this cloning business, and they have not been disappointed Three of the NRC clones are Nobel Laureates, and the NRC itself has won four Nobel prizes There would

be more if they ever reveal how the brain transfer machine works The loss of just one clone is a major setback We need to know what really happened I am counting on you two to get to the bottoms of this.”

Cas shifted in his chair again He was not prepared for this “But we are not any type of legal authority We can’t just go in, and start investigating.”

“I know, and I think I have a good plan You will fill out applications, and be signed on today as GAO employees I have already started the process.”

“The Government Auditing Office?” asked a surprised Robbi

“Sometimes they act like it, but they are the Government Accountability Office I have the authority to ask them to investigate I will do it at the committee meeting today, and make an announcement at a press conference this afternoon That will be your cover.”

“If I might make a suggestion, Senator,” interrupted Robbi

“Please, call me Steve.”

“Well…Steve, put a positive spin on it Call it an accident, and announce that the GAO is investigating the safety and security measures to ensure that the NRC has adequate procedures to preclude future accidents That will sound less of a threat to the NRC, and will not seem unusual following on the heels of the FBI That will also justify calling in a security expert like me.”Steve smiled “I like you Robbi That’s a great idea! I will do it We will get your badges, and everything so you can get over there tomorrow before they have everything back in order The body is being examined by the local office of the CDC here in DC I have contacted them, and told them to keep the body on ice until you can view it The CDC has also sealed the lab where the clone died so it has not been touched except to remove the body, and possibly

decontamination.”

Cas was having trouble keeping up with his notes “What about the family?”

Steve chuckled “She was a clone, Cas She has no next of kin She is really government property.”

Robbi flipped back a page in her notes to review one item “Can you tell us more about the tip you received?”

“Not really I did have the call traced It came from inside the NRC It was one of those disposal phones so no luck there Oh, I almost forgot She said that whomever I send should park

by the large oak in the parking lot; just to the northeast of it That’s strange, isn’t it?”

Robbi noted the gender again “Another she?”

“Oh, yeah, it was a female voice.”

Robbi wrote that down “Anything else?”

“No, that was it-short and sweet except that she called me on my private cell phone Not too many people have that number.”

“What about a search warrant?” asked Cas

“The GAO doesn’t need a warrant to inspect other government agencies, but I can get you any search warrant within an hour I have a judge on standby I can also get you wire taps, hack into computers, you just name it.”

Robbi wrote her notes faster than Cas “Do we carry weapons?”

“No.”

Robbi did not like that answer “Can we make arrests?”

“Any American citizen can make an arrest You will have badges.”

Robbi started to shift in her chair “I will feel naked without my FNP-9.” She was referring

to her light weight nine millimeter pistol Of course, with the 16 round magazines she uses, the weight advantage was lost

“Really? I can visualize that Why don’t you and I go out to dinner this evening, and I will try to make you feel more comfortable?”

Cas began to chuckle as his old roommate winked at him

“No offense, Senator, but you are not my type.”

“And what is your type?”

Robbi smiled “You know; younger, better looking, and thinner.”

Steve simulated a spear striking his chest “Oh, that hurt!” Steve and Cas both laughed

Cas pointed a finger at Steve “You asked for it.”

“Yeah, I had that coming.”

Suddenly, the senator’s door opened, and in stomped a woman without bothering to knock Ignoring Cas and Robbi she said to Steve, “You are holding a press conference today!” It was an accusation not a question “Who do think you are; calling for a press conference without

consulting the minority leader of the committee?” she demanded

“I thought I was the chairman I intended to inform you during our session today In view of what happened, I think it is appropriate Don’t you agree?”

“Kiss my ass!” the woman shouted as she marched out, leaving a trail of strong perfume.Cas and Robbi just stared at Steve He chuckled, “I wouldn’t try to kiss that ass; my lips would freeze to it That was Senator Betty Black from Arizona; a real pleasure to work with Right now she will start working on a separate statement for the press, and will demand equal time She will try to make this investigation look like her own idea Now that the interruption is over, what next?”

“As soon as we finish here, we will check into the , and start our research I want to be prepared when we go to the NRC Tomorrow morning we’ll get to the CDC to view the body and then the NRC.”

“Great! Mary has you set up in a hotel in Alexandria You have adjoining suites with

computers, fax machines, and a coffee machine You will have one of the GAO sedans If you need anything else, just ask Mary already checked you in, and has your keys On the way out you can pick them up She also has some background information and the personnel files of key people at the NRC I want to give you a couple of names I put their contact information in the file The first is Special Agent James Ono He is head of the FBI Task Force on Counterterrorism for the Central East Coast, part of the Counterterrorism Directorate He will be useful, and he is leading the investigation into the incident, at least through tonight The second is Dr Keith Andrew He works for the CDC, but is on loan to Ono’s task force He specializes in biological weapons of mass destruction He has the body The third person is Dr Edward Martinez who …” Cas cut Steve off, “You mean the Doctor Martinez who cloned himself several years ago?”

“Sixteen year ago, to be exact; the same He does not work for the government, but it would

be worth the trip to interview him He has an interesting perspective on cloning, but is a cranky old hoot, and might not cooperate Good luck with that.”

Unlike the TV in the senator’s office, the one in the outer office was state of the art As the press conference started a set of projectors created an holographic image on a small table in front

of the TV The holograph was the same image as on the TV, but was three dimensional, and outside the TV set.

Senator Morgan began by expressing his deep sorrow at losing one of the clones He went

on to say that he was concerned that such an accident could happen, and cause the loss of a clone worth nearly a billion dollars as well as the potential loss of her research In closing, he directed the GOA to immediately review the safety and security of America’s greatest assets-the clones.Following Steve’s remarks Senator Black made a few remarks She said that it was well known that Senator Morgan was no friend of the clone project, and has been looking for excuses

to close down the NRC for the last two years She ended by saying that this investigation is just another attempt to discredit an agency that has already saved millions of lives with the research done by the clones with a return on investment paid many times over

Mary turned the TV off as the rest of the staff went back to work Mary Mahoney, forty five, seemed ageless Cas could not recall her looking any different than she does now She was not a beauty, but had that no nonsense appearance of a professional secretary She did, however, start dying her hair when she started working for Steve Morgan

She looked at Cas “So, Casmir Novak, you have come to rescue your old friend once

again.”

Cas was a stunned “Rescue?”

“Of course,” answered Mary “He calls you only when he is in trouble.” Mary began to straighten Cas’ tie Steve hated ties, partly because he could never quiet get the hang of tying them

Robbi was curious “What kind of trouble?”

Mary laughed “I don’t know, but if he called you he is in some kind of trouble He gets into only two kinds of trouble; women and politics.”

Cas chuckled “So which is it this time, Mary?”

“Well it must be politics Steve hasn’t had a date since he got here, and believe me, I would know Did you see that ridiculous ponytail? He feels that it helps younger constitutes identify with him I feel it makes him look like a middle aged man going bald, and trying to do something with the hair he has left while he can.”

Cas smiled while Robbi nodded her head in agreement Cas thought that Steve may be right; Mary is twice as sassy

“Well; you two have a lot to do so I will have security take you to your car Your bags are in the truck The address to the hotel is already programed in the car’s GPS system Keep in touch

If you need anything call me It’s so good to have you back.” Mary hugged Cas, and kissed him

on the lips She gave Robbi a rather formal hand shake

Cas saw the surprise on Robbi’s face “Mary and I go way back.”

“I guessed as much I think she still has a thing for you.”

“I doubt it That’s just the way she is The kissing is a California thing; hard to get used to.”

An officer from Congressional Security took them to a black sedan in the underground parking garage, and left Congress has an independent security organization

“I am driving!” Robbi said as a matter-of-fact

“No, I know my way around DC so I’ll drive.”

“Are you kidding? This is one of those high tech electric cars that the government is using I want to drive it Don’t make me hurt you.”

Cas moved toward the driver side door “I’m driving!”

Robbi quickly reached inside Cas’ jacket, and pinched a nipple Then she twisted “I warned you,” Robbi said “Let me drive or will hurt you again.”

Cas screamed, “Okay! Okay! That hurt You can drive.”

Robbi smiled over her victory, but when she looked at the driver’s door she stopped smiling

“Cas, the door handle is missing.”

“No You have to stick your new ID badge against the GOA logo

Robbi did as she was told, and a computerized female voice said, “WELCOME, AGENT KELLY.” The door popped open, and Robbi slid into the driver’s seat Cas used his badge to open the passenger side, and got in

Robbi looked over the dashboard “How do you start this thing?”

Cas chuckled “Stick your ID in that slot next to the radio.”

Robbi stuck her ID into the slot, and the computerized voice asked, “Agent Kelly, how would you prefer to be addressed? Just say; as Agent Kelly, Ms Kelly, or other

Robbi laughed “Other.’

“Very well, just say how you would like to be addressed.”

“Superwoman!”

I headd Superwoman Is that correct?”

“Yes.”

“Agent Novak, will you be driving?”

“Maybe,” replied Cas after looking at Robbi, and rubbing his sore nipple

“Very well Agnet Novak, how would yopu prefer to be adrressed?”

“Doctor Novak.”

“VERy well Doctor Novak Superwoamn, would you prefer a male of a female vocie?”

“Male!”

“Very well, Superwoman Where are we going today?”

Robbi chuckled to hear herself called Superwoman “To the hotel.”

“Very well

superwoman I have been provided that address sit back and relax This trip will take 45 minutes at this time of day with current traffic conditions.”

The doors locked, and the engine immediately started

“Cas, I didn’t touch anything!”

Cas laughed “It drives by itself-hands off The entire DC area freeways have the built-in guidance system It uses a GPS system that is accurate to six inches It has been in use for a couple of years now The results are no speeding, fewer accidents, and very few traffic jams It saves on gas too.”

“Really? That must be some super computer.”

“Not really The cars communicate with each other The system runs itself without a central main frame It is based on bee and ant colonies studies Each car has forward-looking radar to track the car ahead, and cameras to detect the lane boundaries It’s called V2V-vehicle-to-vehicle technology It works well if every car on the road is using V2V Service vehicles like tow trucks have to stay in a special lane All government agencies and corporations with fleets use it The V2V devices do cost extra, but pay for themselves over time.”

“Wow! I am going to enjoy this.”

As they rode along, periodically a heads up display (HUD) would appear on the windshield showing the route, time and miles remaining to destinations and key updates on traffic and weather

After a few minutes Robbi said to Cas, “Give me your cell phone.”

“Why?”

“Just do it, and I will explain later.”

Cas handed over his phone Robbi worked on it for a few minutes and handed it back

“I programed in a voice activated emergency number so we can call each other in an

emergency Just say ‘nine one two’, and the phone will automatically dial me The built in GPS will tell me where you are, and I will come running The same for me; if you see nine one two on your caller ID, come running Use it for emergencies only.”

When Cas and Robbi arrived at their hotel they set up their computers, ordered pizza for supper, and began their background study by splitting up the research They had adjoining suites with plenty of work area Cas took the NRC itself, the FBI report, the victim, and all the other documents provided by the senator Robbi took the other clones and the head of the NRC They agreed that at ten PM they would brief each other

At ten Robbi went to Cas’ room, and found him listening to his computer “What are you doing?”

“I am listening to the speech that Dr Ann Smith gave to a joint session of the senate and house She was pleading her case to have the NRC become an agency, and to conduct research in cloning and diseases Her speech is considered one of the best She is a great motivational

speaker They gave her a standing ovation, and then passed the bill to make it so.”

Cas asked Robbi to begin with what she was able to discover about the head of the NRC and the clones She had a stack of print outs Cas had none

“Well, this is interesting stuff.” She began as she sorted all her findings in to separate piles

“Dr Susan Schmidt, the Chairperson, never married She has been the director for three years She was hired ten years ago, shortly after winning the Noble Prize in Chemistry Her research was on the aging process as it related to cloning organs for transplant The ability to clone organs

or skin was developed in the 1970’s, but longevity had always been a problem Remember the first cloned mammal, a sheep named Dolly? She died in 2003, six years after her creation Most sheep live to be twice that age The same thing happened to all the organs cloned with a few exceptions They did not last as long as natural organs should That was not a problem at first because most organ transplants were used on older adults, but it was a major problem for

children or young adults As the average life expectancy was extended it became a big issue for older adults Schmidt discovered a way to prolong the life of cloned organs For that she earned the Noble Prize in 2015.”

“But that was before she went to work for the NRC,” said Cas

“Correct! After she got the Prize she started her own medical company to sell the longer lasting organs That company is still the only one in the world that can produce the chemicals since she still owns the patent on the formula It has made her a multiple millionaire.”

“If she is a multiple millionaire, why did she come to work for the government?”

“Good question Ten years ago, the head of the NRC was a woman named Ann Smith She visited Schmidt, and shortly afterwards asked her to come to work for the NRC to research human cloning After three years, Smith retired early, and named as her successor, Susan

Schmidt Dr Schmidt has been in charge ever since However, Smith is still actively involved She does all the recruiting for researchers She also started a Political Action Committee to help women get elected.”

“Interesting! Go on!”

“Two years after Schmidt started working for the NRC, she discovered a way to speed up the aging process for cloning The media called it Miracle Grow for Kids That was the first step Prior to that, the cloning process would take eighteen years to get a mature adult No one thought that it was even worth the effort Using Schmidt’s new process, it was possible to age the clones

in a fraction of the time.”

“Yes, I read about this process The DNA strands have protective caps called telomeres Each time the cells divide in the aging process, the telomeres get shorter If they get too short, the cells stop dividing and die Back in the twenty tens, scientists were able to find a way to make the telomeres dormant which caused rapid growth As I understand it, Schmidt discovered

a way to elongate the telomeres causing very rapid growth.”

“Yes, she was able get a mature adult in two years.”

Cas thought about that for a minute “So now you have an adult clone with the mind of a two year old.”

“Correct! That was the next major problem; how to transfer all the knowledge of the donor

to the clone Turns out that Judith Lindberg, who later became the first donor to be cloned using this process, was working on a way to quickly transfer all the knowledge of the donor to the clone when Smith recruited her At the NRC she built a giant machine that can do just that She then volunteered to be the first to try it Scientists at the time predicted that the process would cause the clone to go insane Her clone was created eight years ago, and two years later all her knowledge was transferred to the clone It worked-no insanity One year later she died at age sixty two from natural causes Her body was cremated and scattered on the grounds of the NRC Her clone, Judith Two continues her work.”

“No Noble prize for that?”

“No The NRC would not release the plans.”

“And for Schmidt’s discovery of a way to increase the aging process?”

“No Again the NRC would not release the formula They claimed they could not for

national security reasons, and Homeland Security agreed That brings us to Ingrid Keller

Schmidt recruited her right after she won the Noble Prize in medicine for finding a cure for sickle-cell anemia.”

“Yes! Yes! I remember that,” said Cas “It wasn’t actually a cure so much as a way to prevent the gene from being passed on She was able to reprogram the gene that causes sickle-cell so it could not be passed on to children She is credited with essentially wiping out the disease in North America.”

“OMG, Cas How do you know so much? She came to the NRC to continue her work to prevent people from getting malaria.”

“That makes sense; sickle-cell is an evolutionary defense against malaria.”

Robbi was becoming frustrated “Are you going to keep showing off how smart you are or can I finish my report?”

“Sorry Go ahead.”

“Ingrid’s clone was created seven years ago, and two years later her knowledge was passed

on shortly before her death She was 59 when she died of natural causes She was never married Her body was cremated, and her ashes scattered about the NRC grounds Ingrid Two has stayed

on to continue Ingrid’s work.”

“Looks like a trend; they died relatively young, and their clones continued their work, but I guess that is the idea C’est la vie! Such is life.”

“Just after Ingrid was recruited,” continued Robbi “Katherine Ingeberg and Martha

Sandberg were recruited by Smith Both their clones were created right after Ingrid’s Katherine was working on a kind of cure for world hunger Soon after arriving, she was able to isolate the gene that causes people to continue to eat after they are full It was hailed as the first step to cure obesity in children She won the Nobel Prize for that, or rather, I should say that the NRC won it.”

“I remember that too,” commented Cas “That was their first.” He stopped talking when he saw the stern look from Robbi.”

“Martha was working on hieratical diseases and birth defects Using genetic engineering she hoped to forever prevent certain diseases that are passed on from parents to child She was nominated for the Noble Prize, but did not win it Shortly after that their knowledge was

transferred to their clones A few months later, Katherine disappeared at sea while trying to sail solo around the world The next year Martha fell in a climbing accident in Tibet Her body was never recovered Martha Two and Katherine Two still work at the NRC.”

Robbi shuffled her print outs “That brings us to the victim, Margaret Two, The Fifth Clone What did you find out about her?”

Cas started without notes, “Well, Margaret Erikson, the donor, won the Noble Prize before she was hired by the NRC She was doing research at the University of California before she came to the NRC She was the first to isolate the gene that makes some animals immune to anthrax Her clone was actually created before she came to work for the NRC; the only one to be cloned that way Two years after she started work at the NRC her knowledge was transferred to Margaret Two A few weeks later during a trip back to California, she was killed in an

automobile accident She was buried in California; the only donor to have any of her remains buried By the way, she was divorced The only donor that was ever married Her husband still lives in California They had no children.”

“That is odd.” Robbi recently started to worry about her own biological clock

Cas continued, “It seems they were all doing some type of work related to genetic

engineering Ann Smith, Schmidt’s predecessor, had transformed the NRC from a non-profit, scientific think tank into a government agency by convincing Congress that the idea of cloning humans to transfer knowledge was possible, but that it would cost billions of dollars That is why she recruited Dr Schmidt Within a few years of becoming a government agency, the NRC successfully transferred knowledge from a donor to a clone thereby continuing vital research projects.”

“What do you mean that are all working on genetics? Their research seems to cover a wide number of fields.”

“Yes, however, for years doctors have tried to control disease by creating vaccines The problem is that many strains of the diseases mutated and became immune to the vaccines, and continued to ravage humans It may be possible to alter human genes, DNA, so that the body has

a natural immunity to a disease and any mutation of the disease so that vaccines are not needed

“But so many diseases?”

“It would be applied locally, not globally, for example, Africa for malaria.”

“Are we talking about designer babies?” asked Robbi

“Exactly.”

“Anything else?”

“Yes Steve included a copy of the floor plans of the NRC building It is not a new building

It was the former Bio-Accelerator Complex once owned by Fairfax County, and designed to

promote bio-engineering companies When the NRC became a government agency, the County sold the building to the NRC The NRC made a number of renovations, and beefed up security.”

“Is that all?” asked Robbi

“Just one more thing, the accident report on Margaret Erikson; it was a single car accident She ran off the road, and struck a parked gasoline truck; no witnesses By the time the fire company got the fire out, she was burned beyond recognition The police identified the body from dental records and DNA supplied by her husband.”

Robbi looked through her print outs “Oh, I almost forgot; I did a search on line for Dr Schmidt; seems she has a third degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do.”

“Really? That must have been a while ago.”

“No, she is still active She won a tournament last year; first place in senior women and second place in the open division Keep in mind that Tae Kwon Do considers anyone over thirty five a senior In short, she can kick your ass so be careful.”

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*##*

Chapter 3—Friday, October 10, 2031

The next morning Robbi and Cas met for breakfast before heading to the CDC Once inside the GAO sedan Robbi asked Cas, “You’re wearing glasses Since when?”

“They aren’t glasses It is actually a computer system, all wireless It comes with a pen that

is like the old type mouse Inside one lens is a monitor that I can see with one eye, but which cannot be seen by anyone else The glasses also have a camera that is linked with a GPS system and data base.” Cas removed a cigar case from his coat pocket “Here is the main computer Clever, huh? Whatever I look at, the system tells me something about it if they have the

information Here! Take a look.” Cas handed Robbi the glasses, and she put them on

“Wow! I have heard of this, but I never could afford it.”

“Look at a building, and watch what happens.”

Robbi turned her head, and focused on an old building near the highway She read out loud from the inside of the lens, “Built in 1971 First used as a bank before being purchased by the government in 1999 and expanded Sold again to a developer in 2008, and tuned into condos Condemned in 2021 Currently not occupied.”

“Look at a restaurant.”

Robbi looked around until she found a restaurant Reading aloud again, “Currently serving breakfast Restaurant open until 11 PM, bar until 2 AM Specializing in pasta and fish dishes, rated three stars last year Current owner is Monte Royal Built in 1984 Remodeled in 2005 and

2013 Reservations recommended Wow! This is great!”

“Frankly, I find it rather annoying It gets old quick I use it sparingly, but it does have a good search engine Don’t mention it to anyone.”

“Can you use it to find dates?” Cas just laughed

Robbi returned the glasses “By the way, what is with those socks you are wearing?”

“I packed in a hurry, and I packed light I forgot a change of socks so I bought a can of spray-on socks from the vending machine in the lobby They look nice don’t they?”

“No, they do not They look like you spray painted your feet I’ll get you some real socks Is that the same suit you wore on the LANY and to Morgan’s office yesterday?”

“I brought only the one suit It’s one of those nanotech suits.”

“No, no, no, no, no! You can’t wear that suit That is okay for casual business, but the gold standard for CEO’s and executives is wool Did you see Steve’s wardrobe? He may be a cad, but

he knows how to dress He was wearing a wool suit.”

“Well, I don’t have time to go shopping.”

“Yes, you do All garments are made by computers now days We’ll order you a couple online tonight, and you’ll have them in 24 hours or less.”

They arrived at the DC office of the CDC, and asked to see Dr Andrew, who was leading the CDC portion of the investigation As they were escorted to his office, Robbi asked Cas,

”Please do not say anything about me being your niece?”

“Why?”

“It makes people think you are in charge I said I would help you if we were partners-equals

It also makes me feel inferior, not to mention it kills my chances with a potential date No guy is going to ask me out if they think you are the protective uncle Okay?”

“You think so?”

“Hell, yes,” said Robbi “Did you think Steve would go out with me after you told him I was your niece?”

“He’s not your type,” Cas reminded her

“I just said that Believe me, any senator is any woman’s type Women are attracted to men

in power, fatally so.”

“L’amour est avengle! So noted! No more niece I miss you already.”

Cas chuckled, but Robbi did not

When they entered the doctor’s office, Cas was surprised that such a young man would be in charge Robbi was surprised at how good looking he was She thought people who worked for the CDC were nerds Dr Keith Andrew could have been a model or a movie star Robbi thought

He had piercing blue eyes and short brown hair His jaw was square set like a boxer’s It was obvious that he exercised regularly Robbi checked for those tell-tail signs that he was married: a wedding band, pictures of kids or girlfriends, or hand-made clay pencil holder She saw none of these, and concluded that he was, indeed, single

Along with Dr Andrew was a woman dressed in a lab coat Dr Andrew introduced her as

Dr Dorothy Mills, his co-worker who was assisting on the autopsy Robbi sensed no chemistry between them, and figured they had no relationship outside of working together

After introductions Cas started with, “First, tell us what you found.”

“Very well,” said Dr Andrew “After we decontaminated the body we first determined the COD and TOD.” After seeing the puzzled looks on Cas and Robbi’s faces, he added, “Sorry, the cause of death and the time of death We discovered, as we had suspected, that the clone had contacted anthrax, and that was the cause of death.”

Robbi started taking notes in her notebook “How did you determine that?

“Dot, would you explain?”

“Certainly Anthrax can enter the body in three ways: through the intestines by ingestion, through the lungs by inhalation, or through the skin The distinct clinical symptoms are based on the site of entry In this case, the entry site was the left hand Cutaneous infection in humans shows up as a boil-like skin lesion that eventually forms an ulcer with a black center,” explained

Dr Mills

Robbi flicked her hair “Wouldn’t she have noticed something?”

Dr Andrew swiveled his chair toward Robbi, and leaned in toward her “Maybe not The ulcer begins as an irritating and itchy skin lesion or blister She may have thought it was a rash, and tried to treat it as such It is usually painless Cutaneous infections generally form between two and five days after exposure Initial symptoms resemble the common cold: sore throat, mild fever, muscle aches, and malaise After a few days, the victim begins to have severe breathing problems Death can occur from about two days to a month after exposure.”

This comment troubled Cas “So she could have been exposed several days or even weeks before her death?”

“Most definitely,” answered Dr Andrew The anthrax spores germinated on the left hand, and then spread via the circulation system to the lymph nodes We found evidence of the bacteria

in the lymph nodes If left untreated, the bacteria produce toxins that are the primary agents of tissue destruction, bleeding, and death Cutaneous anthrax is rarely fatal if treated, but without treatment about twenty percent of the cases progress to toxemia and death.”

Robbi thought about that for a second “That means that checking on alibis will be a waste

Cas was on to something “Did you identify the strain that killed the clone?”

Dr Andrew sat back in his chair, a little surprised by Cas’ question He could see where this was leading “We did not test for that We knew it was anthrax, and we confirmed it We did not see the necessity of strain identification.”

Robbi could not follow the Cas’ train of thought “So you declared her death an accident?”

Dr Andrew leaned in toward Robbi “No, the CDC just reports the findings The coroner has to officially declare it an accident, but the FBI called us this morning, and I told them what I just told you They are going to announce in a news conference right after lunch that it is an accident They said I could open the lab after the announcement.”

Cas was still following his line of questions “We need you to identify the strain It’s

important It stands to reason if her death was an accident then the strain that killed her should have been the same as the one she was testing If it isn’t then she may have been murdered It might have been a strain that is resistant to antibiotics If Margaret Two was treating herself, but thought it was a different strain, her self-treatment would not work Under the circumstances we would like you to examine all the organs to rule out any other cause of death Conduct a

complete autopsy, and please preserve the body in case we need something else Under the circumstances, I would like you not to open the lab.”

Dr Andrew was not exactly thrilled about the additional work, but he understood “Of course We should have an answer for you by tomorrow Would you like to see the body?”

“That is not necessary We would not know what to look for.”

Robbi was twirling a strand of hair “Please explain how you decontaminated the body.”

“It is simple really,” said Dr Mills “We designed the lab for the NRC The established protocol is to immediately shut down, and lock down the lab whenever an incident occurs The air circulation system is shut off and sealed Nothing goes in or out of the lab until we get there

It has built-in decontamination equipment using gamma radiation We just turn it on, and in minutes, it will kill everything in the lab.”

Cas was again troubled “But then all the anthrax was killed before you examined the body.”

Dr Andrew picked up on Cas’ concern “No Before we turned on the gamma rays, we entered the lab in bio-suits and placed the body in a plastic body bag and inside a stainless steel drum that is lined with lead Then we use the radiation to decontaminate the outside of the drum and the lab at the same time When we examined the body, it was still contaminated We have the facilities to perform autopsies on contaminated bodies here.”

Robbi began to fiddle with her bracelet “So the lab is still sealed?”

“Yes At Senator Morgan’s request we have kept it sealed, but it is decontaminated We use

a combination lock that requires a push button code Here is the code.” Dr Andrew wrote the code on the back of his business card, and handed it to Cas

“Can I have a card too?” The doctor grabbed another card, and wrote on the back before giving it to Robbi Robbi glanced, and saw that he had written his cell phone number

Cas looked over his notes “Tell me more about how the lab is designed.”

“There isn’t much to tell,” replied Dr Mills “The entire lab is sealed off, and the air filtered with special HEPA filters The antechamber serves as an air lock before you enter the lab proper That is where people put on the PPE.”

“PPE?” asked Robbi

“Oh, sorry PPE stands for Personal Protective Equipment In this case, gowns, gloves, booties, respirators, and hats The anthrax spores are pretty small, and will penetrate typical PPE

We use specially designed PPE Inside the main chamber the anthrax is kept in sealed glove boxes That is what makes it hard to determine how Margaret got exposed.”

Robbi noted that this was the first time anyone mentioned the victim’s name “Margaret? You knew her?”

“Yes, I knew her,” answered Dr Mills “As I was saying, in theory, there should be two physical barriers between the researcher and the anthrax spores; the gloves in the glove box and the container holding the anthrax inside the glove box To get exposed one of two things had to happen: Margaret bypassed the physical barriers, and stuck her hand inside the glove block, or there was a leak in the glove box.”

At this point Dr Andrew answered the unasked question, “I checked for leaks or a crack and found none Even if there was a leak in the glove box, the container holding the anthrax would prevent accidental exposure.”

“It is possible As you say, the spores are very tiny, and could slip through a miniscule leak She did get exposed somehow,” Cas said

“It is possible, but we found no leak Our equipment is very sophisticated We would have found a leak or a crack.”

Dr Mills summed it up, “We think that Margaret exposed herself by violating protocol, and bypassing the safety features.”

Robbi still had more questions “Do you know why the NRC was researching anthrax? I mean, it’s rare, isn’t it?”

Dr Andres smiled at Robbi “Yes, it is rare these days, but it still infects livestock Anthrax has been known to be dormant for seventy years, and still infect animals and people It is also the major biological weapon of mass destruction used by terrorists The NRC was trying to find some way to detect the spores more easily, and eradicate the bacteria altogether.”

“Were you able to determine how she came in contract with the anthrax?” asked Cas

“No, we were not able to determine that, only that she was infected on the left hand,” replied

Dr Andrew

Robbi was fingering the top button of her blouse “Any particular spot on the left hand?”

“That’s the odd part,” said Dr Mills “It was the whole hand; both sides down to the wrist I have never seen that type of contact Usually, it is on the finger tips or palms However, it is consistent will a violation of protocol The access to the glove box chamber is on the left side

We think she may have reached inside to hold a test rat with her left hand while keeping her right hand inside the protective glove in the glove box That is why only the left hand was exposed.”Robbi still did not understand how Margaret was exposed “But won’t she have had a latex glove on?”

“Yes, but it is not enough protection against anthrax.”

“What about her clothing?” asked Cas

Dr Andrew looked at his report “She had on PPE which we destroyed; a gown, gloves, respirator, goggles; regular stuff We also destroyed her personal clothing It is safer that way All her accessories were in her locker except for these.”

Dr Andrew opened an envelope that was on his desk, and poured out the contents: an ID badge, a pair of glasses, and a necklace He picked up the necklace, and held it out to Robbi even though Cas held out his hand Robbi started to take it, but pulled her hand back

Dr Mills laughed “Don’t worry, it is decontaminated.”

Robbi took the necklace “A necklace?” She examined it, and handed it to Cas

Dr Andrew sat back in his chair “Yes, a clear violation of protocol Something like that could easily harbor anthrax spores.”

Robbi pointed to the other items on the desk “What about the ID badge and glasses?”

Dr Andrew picked up the badge and glasses “These are worn under the PPE, but it is still against protocol.”

Cas turned the necklace over in his hand “It’s a Phoenix! Can I hang onto this?”

Dr Andrew thought about for a second “I think it is okay since you are in charge of the investigation.”

Robbi held out her hand “Can I see the ID badge?” As Dr Andrew started to hand it to her she asked, “A proximity badge?”

“Yes, most agencies use them It eliminates the need to swipe the card You just walk by the reader, and the doors open.”

“I am very familiar with them, but they are not very secure An unauthorized person can slip

in behind a careless person.”

“You are correct,” said Dr Mills “At the NRC, the labs use face recognition programs-very secure.”

Cas picked up the glasses from the desk “She was wearing glasses? I thought that the clones had perfect vision?”

Dr Mills smiled “Apparently not.”

Cas handed Dr Andrew his card “Thank you, doctors As soon as you have your report, please call me.” Robbi also handed Dr Andrew her card Her cell phone number was printed on the card

Once they were outside the building Robbi asked, “Well, what did that computer of yours have to say?”

“He is a graduate of George Washington University He is 35 years old, and has worked for the CDC since he graduated from medical school He specializes in biological weapons of mass destruction ”

Robbi interrupted, “Damn it, Cas you’re teasing me Get to the point! Is he married?”

“Yes, I was teasing you, and no, he is not married By the way it was rather obvious that you liked him.”

“What do you mean?”

“The way you were flirting with him.”

“I was not flirting.”

“Yes you were It was obvious I was embarrassed for you.”

“I was interested, I must admit, but I kept it professional the whole time”

“In a pig’s eye! What did he write on his card?”

“I am not going to tell you because you are being such an ass.”

“Ah ha! I knew it He wrote his phone number It is no wonder the way you were falling all over him.”

“I was not falling all over him I was professional at all times What is the deal with the necklace? Why do you want it?”

“It is a Phoenix, a mythical fire bird.”

“I know what a Phoenix is, but what is the significance to this case?”

“I don’t know yet, but it was the only personal item that the victim took into the lab so it must have been important to her; too important to put in her locker.”

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*##*

Chapter 4—National Research Council

Robbi and Cas started to drive to the NRC which was not too far When the car reached the freeway, and the auto-pilot engaged, Robbi took a newspaper from her briefcase, and started to read

“What are you doing?”

“What does it look like? I am reading the paper.”

“You should not read when you are driving.”

“Who’s driving? Everything is automated.”

“Nonetheless, you need to be ready just in case Something could happen You need to take over manual drive if something happens.”

“In case of what? What could possibly happen?”

“I don’t know A helicopter could fall from the sky onto the road! It just makes me nervous, that’s all Please!”

“Okay,” Robbi said as she put her paper away “That actually happened, didn’t it?”

“What happened?”

“A helicopter landed on the beltway.”

“Yes, as a matter-of-fact It was a medevac No one was hurt.”

Forty five minutes later they arrived at the main gate to the NRC The make shift memorial made up of flowers, candles and signs by the gate was growing The large groups of supporters and protesters had separated themselves on each side of the road, and were yelling across at each other When the car came to a stop the GPS system blinked, and the computerized voice came

on, “SUPERWOMAN, THE ROAD FROM THE MAIN GATE TO THE MAIN ENTRACE

HAS NO GUIDANCE SYSTEM YOU WILL HAVE TO DRIVE FROM THIS POINT TO THE MAIN ENTRANCE PARKING IS AVAILABLE ON YOUR RIGHT.”

“Oh, goodie!” exclaimed Robbi as she took control, and found the oak tree where the

Senator’s CI told them to park at the far end of the parking lot

“Cas, the oak tree is blocking the security cameras The branches need trimming.” She turned off the engine and let out a sigh As Cas opened his door she grabbed his arm

“Cas, what I said about being partners, and not referring to me as your niece You have always been my favorite step-uncle, or whatever, but now I want us to be partners I may have come across a bit harsh, but I want us to do the things that partners do; not uncle and niece things.”

“Like what?”

“You know; joke around, have a few beers, share the load equally, cover each other’s

back…things like that I am a big girl now, and I don’t need your protection.”

“Okay.”

The NRC headquarters was in Fairfax County just south of Springfield The impressive building sat in the center of a well-kept landscape guarded by a ten foot chain-link fence Robbi noted the numerous security guards and roving patrols She made a mental note of the location of security cameras as they entered

In the main entrance, a short flight of stairs climbed up to the main lobby and the

receptionist’s desk Robbi immediately noticed that the desk was made of clear glass The

receptionist sat behind the desk with a very short skirt, and her legs slightly apart Coming up the steps any visitor would be able to see up her dress Robbi glanced at Cas to see if he noticed too Cas was not looking at the receptionist

Robbi thought that Cas was too good to be true Here was a situation where any other guy would have looked between the legs of the gorgeous receptionist, but Cas was not looking What

a gentleman, she thought Or was he just not interested in women anymore? Unbelievable! Then again, she had never seen him check out other women whenever she was with him

Once in the main lobby, they approached the receptionist, a blonde woman with ample breasts, and plenty of cleavage showing “God Morgon,” she said as they approached her desk She smiled her receptionist’s smile as Cas explained who they were, and showed her his ID

“You haf to sign in, and leaf your cell phones and cameras.” She explained

Cas smiled back “I detect an accent You said ‘God Morgon’ so I am going to say that you are Swedish?”

“Yah Das is trooo! I am from Stok Holm How did you know?”

Cas explained in Swedish that Swedish was one of the languages that he spoke Robbi did a slight eye roll, and shifted her weight to one foot Cas switched languages, and said in German,

“Actually ‘das’ is not English In English we would say ‘that.’”

The receptionist laughed, and replied in German, “I get das mixed up all the time.” She flicked her hair then stood, and stuck out her hand to Cas, “Ve’ree nice to meet you I am

Helga.” Robbi held out her hand, but Helga ignored it Helga took their cell phones, and asked them to step through a detector that would detect any transmission devices, bombs, or weapons She did not notice Cas’ eye glasses computer When Cas stepped through the metal detector it alarmed

“Oh, I forgot.” He removed his computer glasses, the mouse pen, and took what looked like

a cigar case out of his pocket The security guard picked up the cigar case “Nasty habit I know, but when Cuba became a democracy I could not resist Cuban cigars.”

The guard removed the cap on the cigar case Inside was a cigar She sniffed it, and said,

“They are good.” She placed it back in the plastic tray with the other items

While the guard was checking Cas’ cigar case, Helga whispered to Robbi, “Are yoo and Dr Novak haf a relationship?”

Robbi was taken back “Isn’t that question beyond your job description?

“Believe me, everyone will be asking me after yoo leave.”

Robbi smiled “We’re partners.”

Helga gave Robbi a knowing smile

“Business partners,” Robbi stressed She decided to add the word business to describe her relationship to Cas from now on People jump to conclusions

Robbi also triggered an alarm With a puzzled look she started to check her pockets and removed a quarter from her pants pocket She placed it in the tray “Sorry.”

Once they had been cleared to enter, Helga made a call Within minutes a robot about three feet high on two wheels came down the hall, and stopped abruptly in front of the group “

In a metalic voice, the robot said, “Doctor Novak and Ms Kelly, please follow me, and I will take you to the office of Doctor Schmidt.”

As they ambled the short distance to Schmidt’s office the robot explained each piece of art work and photograph In the hallway they passed several women, mostly blonde, and all with ample breasts on display Robbi thought that it was unusual to see so many blondes in one place She also thought the short and tight skirts were out of place in a government agency She was slightly relieved when they filed into Susan Schmidt’s office to find sitting behind a huge desk, a brunet with a modest set of breasts and professional attire Susan Schmidt closed the file she was reading, stood up, and walked around her desk to meet them

Dr Schmidt appeared to be about Cas’ age She stood very erect, and seemed to be rather formal in her approach to Cas, but warm toward Robbi She wore a lab coat over a simple dress and flats instead of high heels She wore her hair parted in the center and pulled back behind her ears; just short of shoulder length The robot made introductions, and everyone shook hands Cas was immediately impressed by her firm grip

“I am surprised,” said Schmidt as she shook Robbi’s hand “The GAO has so few women agents Kelly? That is Irish, correct? A good name.”

“Actually, I am the product of a mixed marriage; my father was Irish and my mother was a Republican.”

Cas chuckled, but Schmidt only smiled

Turning her attention to Cas, Schmidt asked, “Novak? That’s Slavic, correct?”

“A common Slavic name I am mostly Czech with some Russian, Polish, and Indian thrown

in for good measure.”

Schmidt raised an eyebrow, “Indian? American Indian or India?”

“Navaho I am told Don’t ask me how.”

“I see you have one of those AdminBot How cute,” said Robbi pointing to the robot

“Adminobot,” Schmidt corrected her “Courtesy of Uncle Sam An older model.”

“Wow! What does it do?” asked Robbi

“Mostly it annoys me; limited AI-level two It can file, record meetings, clean the office, keep my calendar, escort, bring me coffee which it always seems to spill, things like that.” Schmidt turned to the Adminobot, “R2D2007, please record this meeting.”

“Yes, doctor Schmidt,” replied the Adminobot

“Cute name,” said Cas

“My humble attempt at humor It will answer to R2.”

Robbi looked at Cas He saw her expression and said, “From the old Star Wars movie.”

“I never saw it.”

“It’s a classic,” said Schmidt as she waved her hand toward two chairs set in front of her desk Cas and Robbi sat down as Schmidt returned to her seat Her office was Spartan: a few pictures, some diplomas, and one book case half full of books Cas noticed that all the pictures were of women He recognized the picture of Schmidt B Anthony, Betty Friedan, and Gloria Steinem He did not know the others He also noticed that there was no picture of the president; unusual in a government office In the corner was a triangular display case with a dozen or so karate trophies

Schmidt directed her question to Robbi “I presume the GAO wants to investigate our finances following the accidental death of The Fifth Clone A tragic loss, but not one that will affect us financially.”

Cas immediately put on his glasses, and removed a note pad from his briefcase “The GAO asked us to investigate whether you have invested enough funds in appropriate safety and

security measures to protect the clones and their research; a slightly different focus Of course, we’ll need to see all your financial records to do that.”

Schmidt began to idly fiddle with her necklace “Will a flash drive work for you?” Robbi nodded “R2, please copy the usual files for the GAO, and give them to Ms Kelly on a flash drive.”

Cas noticed the pendent It was identical to the necklace that Dr Andrew gave him He focused on it so the camera in his glasses could photograph it

“Doctor Schmidt, I will not be able to record while I get those files for Ms Kelly.”

“I think that I can cover for you, R2,” replied Schmidt sarcastically

Immediately, the R2 left the room

Robbi shouted after the robot, “A list of employees also, please.”

“R2, did you hear that? A list of the employees too Thank you.” Turning toward Robbi again, “Anything else?”

Robbi was surprised “You thanked your Adminobot?”

“Must maintain decorum,” explained Schmidt “Anything else?”

“Yes.” Robbi looked at her notebook “I would like a copy of your security protocol, floor schematics, and a wiring diagram of your surveillance systems.”

As R2 returned to the room, Schmidt said, “R2, also get the security policy and some floor schematics Then call security for a copy of the wiring diagram of our surveillance systems Tell

Ms Phillips that I said she should bring them herself.”

“YES, DOCTOR SCHMIDT,” said R2 as it spun around, and left the room

Cas pointed to Schmidt’s necklace “That is an interesting pendant you are wearing Family heirloom?”

Schmidt looked down at the necklace “No, it was a gift from Ann Smith, my predecessor, when she retired.”

R2 returned with a flash drive, and handed it to Robbi who giggled as she took it from the robot

Cas changed subjects “I read your article in Genes, Brain and Behavior.”

“Ah, yes, G2B You must lead a very dull life if you read it Actually, they published two of

my articles Which one did you read?”

“The one on eugenics I liked your explanation of the goals of modern genetic engineering I think you made an interesting case for using eugenics to improve overall societal intelligence relating to the heritability of IQ.”

Schmidt smiled at Cas, and nodded her head “Well Doctor, I see that you have done your homework.”

“I also agreed with your assertion that the study of eugenics has been given a bad rap

because of its association with Nazi Germany and the concept of designer babies.”

Schmidt smiled again “I think we are headed in that direction Nearly every state now allows couples to determine the sex of their unborn child and prenatal diagnosis of congenital disorders to eliminate hereditary diseases such as hemophilia and Huntington's disease I think before too long we will see designer babies; babies whose genes have been altered for positive traits not just the elimination of negative ones I took a lot of criticism for that article It was not good for the reputation of the NRC I doubt that I will ever publish another one I think we are boring Ms Kelly What else?”

This time Robbi answered, “No, not at all I see you use facial recognition for security How

is that working for you?”

“Well, we like it I can access every area, of course The clones also have full access We like to share our work, and help each other solve problems All the other employees have access only to areas that they need to get to The most sensitive areas use the facial scan otherwise the

Robbi finished writing notes, and looked up “What is your mission?”

“With the successful cloning of Judy Lindberg and the transfer of her knowledge to Judy Two, or The First Clone as the press like to call her, all of our research has been narrowed to the research that the clones are working on, and, of course, cloning research itself We like to say we want to work ourselves out of a job We are researching how to eradicate anthrax, malaria, world hunger, hieratical diseases and birth defects, and the aging process; six areas of research Oh, and cloning too-seven areas Let’s start our tour, shall we? I will explain the rest as we go along.”

As Dr Schmidt led Cas and Robbi into the hallway they were greeted by the Director of Security and Safety, Kimberly Phillips After introductions, Kim paraded alongside Robbi as Robbi started asking questions

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*##*

Chapter 5—Bring in the Clones

Schmidt led Cas and Robbi through a series of offices, and then marched straight to the labs She passed by a few labs, and stopped in front of a door that had crime scene barrier tape across the door

“I thought you would want to see Margaret Two’s lab first Each clone has their own work area and lab This was Margaret Two’s.”

Phillips carefully removed the tape, and set it aside She stood directly in front of a small camera, and pushed a button The camera scanned her face, and then a message stated,

“ACCESS GRANTED.” The door opened, and she led the group inside

The lab had a large work area with several work stations Toward the rear was a large plate glass window looking into another room It had a small antechamber with gowns, boots, and face masks hanging from hooks on one wall Protruding from a bracket on the wall were three sizes of plastic gloves

Dr Schmidt stood in front of the window, and pointed inside “We found her there on the floor.”

“Who found her?” asked Robbi

“Her assistant, Olga Becker, a remarkable woman She worked with Dr Erikson before becoming Margaret Two’s assistant She was devastated Can you imagine having your boss die twice? Yet, she won’t take a leave of absence.” Schmidt’s voice cracked as she wiped away a tear “Excuse me,” she said as she stepped over, and retrieved a tissue from a box on the table She wiped her eyes, and threw the tissue in the trash “You will meet Olga today.”

Cas looked inside the lab “Did anyone go inside, and check for vital signs?”

“No It was too dangerous Our protocol is to immediately lock down the lab We used a robot to check the body She was definitely dead.”

“Another robot?” asked Robbi

“Yes Here I will show you.” Dr Schmidt stepped up to the control panel, and touched an icon on a screen Immediately a door opened, and a small robot similar to R2, but with human features rolled out Schmidt leaned forward “Jimbo, please meet our guests at the lab window.” The robot rolled over to the window, and stopped “It is a humanoid developed by NASA When they down sized, several of their robots where transferred to us This one is a Robonaut 3 Model,

a little out of date; level three AI It was originally programmed for HAZMAT spills.”

“HAZMAT?” asked Robbi

Cas answered for Dr Schmidt, “Hazardous material!”

The doctor continued, “Margaret named it Jimbo; something to do with her ex I believe Jimbo, say hello to Doctor Novak and Ms Kelly.”

A computerized voice said, “Hello Doctor Novak and Ms Kelly What can I do for you today?”

Cas turned to Dr Schmidt, “Can it tell us what happened?”

Schmidt commanded the robot, “Jimbo, please relate what happened when Margaret Two died.”

“Very well, Doctor Schmidt I was summoned from my charging station on wednesday, august eighth, 2031 at 0730 hours,and commanded to check on Margaret Two I found her on the floor I checked her body temperature using infared and found it to be seveny two degress, the temperature of the chamber Idetermined that she was derad.”

Cas studied the robot for a minute before asking, “Could the robot have killed her?”

“No,” answered Dr Schmidt “It is programmed to clean the lab, especially spills of

hazardous chemicals It cannot do much beyond that Each lab has one Thank you, Jimbo You can return to your charging station.”

“What happened next?” asked Robbi

“We locked down the lab like I said, and called the CDC That’s the protocol.”

Cas was surprised “No one called 911?”

“What can they do? It was an accidental exposure to anthrax Local authorities are not equipped to handle that; only the CDC They came, packed up Margaret Two’s body, and

decontaminated the lab It has been lock down ever since.”

“Are you here to open the lab?” a voice asked from the door way

Dr Schmidt answered, “Oh, Olga! These people are from the GAO They wish to talk to you Doctor Olga Becker, this is Ms Roberta Kelly and Dr Casmir Novak.”

Olga quickly dashed straight up to Schmidt, and the two hugged Robbi saw tears in

Schmidt’s eyes, but none in Olga’s After a couple of minutes Olga stepped back from Schmidt, and looked at the two visitors

Cas shook Olga’s hand “We are sorry for you loss, Doctor Did Margaret Two exhibit any symptoms?” he asked

“Yes, she did I explained all this to the police and the FBI She thought she had the flu It was going around She never took good care of herself; just like Margaret Erikson, the original Margaret.”

“Is it normal for her to work alone?” asked Robbi

“She was like that-total disregard of protocol Whenever someone is inside the chamber, someone is supposed to be standing by on the outside She was a workaholic; never slept Often she would work through the night When I came in the next morning, I found her.”

“All the clones have apartments here in the building,” interjected Schmidt “It is not unusual for them to work late However, as Olga stated, she should have not worked alone I am afraid I did not strictly enforce the policy.”

Cas used his computer glasses to take pictures of the lab “What was she working on?”

“She was trying to genetically engineer a way to ward off anthrax,” answered Olga

Cas looked at Olga, and selected the video setting on his computer glasses “Any particular strain?”

“Yes We were working with the Ames strain It seems to be the favorite among terrorists, and is readily available It was used in the 2001 and 2020 anthrax attacks We were on the verge

of a breakthrough in the research If you could unlock the lab, I would like to get back to work.”Cas continued to record “I afraid that it will have to remain locked for now It won’t be long I understand from the CDC that the work is done inside a glove box so at least two physical barriers exist between the anthrax and the researcher.”

Olga shook her head in agreement “That is correct, and that is how it should be, but we can’t always do it that way Using the glove box is awkward It works fine when we inject the lab rats It also works well when we have the rats ingest the anthrax When we expose the rats by rubbing anthrax on their skin, we sometimes have problems Before we start we shave a spot on the rat’s back We have to hold the rat with one gloved hand, and rub the anthrax on that spot with the other Well, these rats can be quite big, and can be very uncooperative On more than one occasion I have seen Margaret Two stick one hand inside the glove box to get a firm grip on

a rat It has never been a problem, but it is a violation of protocol Maybe that is what she did, and she accidentally exposed herself I can’t know for certain.”

Cas turned to Schmidt “You have had a number of deaths here at the NRC.”

“Yes, unfortunately, we have, but this is the first clone death,” answered Schmidt “We sometimes joke about it It seems that as soon as someone is cloned, they die in a couple of years Accidents doing this type of research are not uncommon, but for the NRC it is the first.”Schmidt took them next to a large room that had two large dental type chairs in the center surrounded by various types of equipment A woman stepped forward, and before Schmidt could speak, introduced herself “Hello, I am Lindberg Two I see that Dr Schmidt is giving you the grand tour.” Lindberg looked no older than twenty, tall with a slender body Her blonde hair fell shoulder length, and was colored with the natural blond on the bottom fading into a darker brown

on top-very stylish She appeared to have been crying

Schmidt completed the introductions “Dr Novak and Ms Kelly are checking our security measures because of Margaret Two’s death.” Lindberg Two started to tear up Dr Schmidt reached over, and squeezed her arm They both forced a smile

“Sorry,” said Lindberg Two wiping away a tear with her finger “I still can’t believe it.”

“So you invented the brain transfer machine?” asked Robbi

Lindberg Two and Schmidt both laughed “You make it sound so Frankensteinish,” said Lindberg “We prefer to call it the intelligence transcriber Brains are not transferred in this process Let me explain Years ago scientists completed the Genome Project which mapped all the information in DNA That was the beginning Next came the Transcriptome Project to map all the RNA transcripts formed from a genome Then the Proteome Project followed by the Metabolome Project I was on the next project called the Connectome Project where we

attempted to map all the major neural connections in the brain Except for the Genome Project, none of these projects were ever completed After a few years, I determined that we were going about it all wrong.”

Cas was full of questions “How is that?”

“All these projects were trying to understand how the brain works, how it thinks It occurred

to me that I could replicate the thinking process, and the knowledge stored in the brain without fully understanding how the brain works; without a map Just like a copy machine makes copies

of anything without understanding what it is copying So I built this transcriber.”

Cas was not satisfied “That is all too simple You need to explain how it works.”

“Of course When I was working on the Connectome Project, I was able to reproduce a single idea or thought from one brain to another I found that I had to use nearly identical spots in the brains, and the brains had to be very similar As you know, brains are like fingerprints;…”

“No two are alike,” Cas said at the same time as Lindberg Two “Correct,” agreed Lindberg Two without missing a beat “Anyway, I was able to transfer a single thought by using ultra-high-magnetic-field MRI It was an accident actually By connecting two MRIs together so that one would align all the neurons, synapses, and electrical impulses in one brain, and the other MRI would essentially rearrange the neurons, synapses, and electrical impulses in the second brain to match the first,” said Lindberg Two

“Of course, that had limited application because brains are so different,” said Cas

“Correct again, but when I heard about the cloning project, I saw a way to transcribe all of the knowledge on a large scale because the donor’s brain and the clone’s brain are essentially identical Both brains have the same amount of neural transmitters like epinephrine,

norepinephrine, and dopamine.”

Cas thought this explanation too simple “But it is a lot more complicated or others would be doing it too.”

“Correct I gave you the short version If I go any deeper I would be violating the National Security Secrets Act Would you like to examine the transcriber?”

Cas hesitated for a moment, and then changed his mind “I would, but I don’t think it is germane to our investigation Another time, perhaps.”

Dr Schmidt touched Lindberg Two’s arm “Thank you, Doctor Lindberg.”

Schmidt took Cas and Novak to each of the other clones and their labs The second clone, Keller Two, was working on a way to prevent malaria The third clone, Ingeberg Two, was working on a way to prevent hunger Sandberg Two, the fourth clone, was working on birth defects

On the second floor, Dr Schmidt took them to a large picture window Behind the window was a large nursery with dozens of incubators with infants inside wired up to monitors Nurses moved from one to another checking vital signs, and making sure the feeding tubes were still in place and not tangled

“We can’t go inside because of the danger of infections These are recently cloned babies.”Robbi pressed her face against the window, “How cute!”

“Yes, but sad too The survivability of these babies is very low That is one reason

reproductive cloning is so expensive It is not very efficient Less than ten percent of cloning attempts produce a viable offspring Most of these babies will die within weeks That is why we need so many.”

Cas switched his computer glasses from video to still pictures and got several shots of the babies “Why do so many die?”

“Most are born with a compromised immune system, explained Schmidt “Therefore, they have higher rates of infection, tumor growth, and other disorders In some cases we do not know the cause of death That is why we cannot go inside that room.”

Dr Schmidt led the group further down the hall to another large window Inside the room was about a half dozen older children supervised by nannies Cas noted that only one was male

“In this room we have the older clones,” explained Schmidt Once they are mature we can attempt the brain transcriber to pass the donor’s knowledge to the clone Once again, we cannot

go inside Their immune systems are still weak at this stage.”

Dr Schmidt knocked on the window, and motioned to one of the nannies The nannies lined

up all the children over by the window They appeared to line up by age so that the boy was at the end Dr Schmidt touched a spot on the window which turned on an intercom

Dr Schmidt smiled at the children “Children, say hello, and introduce yourself to Ms Kelly and Dr Novak from the GAO.”

As each child in turned introduced themselves, Cas continued to take still pictures “If I understand the process, you transfer genetic material from the nucleus of a cell from the adult donors to an egg whose nucleus has been removed Then you stimulate the egg to cause cell division At some point you have an embryo that can be transferred to a female host, and let it grow naturally until birth Do you insert the embryo into the uterus of the donor?”

“Very good, Dr Novak The process is called somatic cell nuclear transfer or SCNT for short No, we don’t use the donor to carry the embryo to full term If we did that we would only have five embryos every nine months The original donors are all dead now Now, the donors are the clones, and they are all doing vital research They can’t be spared for maturity leave No, we

get many cells from the clones, and create hundreds of embryos We use volunteers to carry the embryos to birth.”

Robbi was surprised “Do women really volunteer to be a surrogate?”

Schmidt laughed, “You would be surprised We have plenty of volunteers You could

volunteer if you are so inclined.”

“No thanks I am not ready quite yet Beside, this sort of freaks me out If I understand what you just said then you might have hundreds of clones that look exactly like Margaret Erikson.”

“We do have hundreds that look exactly like Margaret In fact, each of our five original donors has hundreds of clones Keep in mind out of one hundred clones we are lucky if ten survive the first three weeks Out of those ten we must find one whose brain is identical to the donor to transcribe the knowledge from donor to clone It is a numbers game, I am afraid to say.”

“But you aren’t making designer babies?” asked Cas

“We are within the limits of our research We have permission to do that much For example

we will use a process called germ cell alteration to add new genes to the embryo that will make the adult immune to malaria, or anthrax, or birth defects Current laws prevent us from doing more than that even though I am in favor of it You have seen everything If you have no further questions, Ms Phillips will escort you to the lobby.”

Cas looked over his notes “No, this ought to do for now Let us review everything, and make a decision on unlocking the lab.”

Dr Schmidt smiled “If you need anything, we are open 24/7.”

Ms Phillips escorted Cas and Robbi back to the receptionist’s desk to retrieve their cell phones Cas spoke in Swedish to Helga as she played with her necklace as they spoke, and even flicked her hair a couple of times Robbi tapped her foot impatiently

As they were walking to their car Robbi said, “You were unbelievable.”

“What do you mean?”

“The way you were flirting with that receptionist What’s her name, Helga?”

“I was not flirting-just being friendly.”

“Bull shit! You were flirting! I was embarrassed It was flagrant.”

“I was not flirting!”

“Yeah, right! ‘I detect an accent’,” said Robbi mimicking Cas’ voice “Are you Swedish? Can I look at your tits?”

“I was not flirting I just have a thing about accents.”

“Accent my ass You were flirting with her Besides, you know those tits are fake So are the lips, for that matter.”

“How can you tell?”

“Trust me! I can tell No one has perfect tits like that; there must be a pound of silicone in each one And those lips; she had to have surgery on them I’ll bet she was working in

housekeeping until they found out we were coming.”

“Wait a minute!” said Cas stopping in his tracks “This is all about Dr Andrew isn’t it? You are getting back at me because I said you were flirting with him Am I right?”

“Bingo! How does it feel?”

“You are right I was out of line I am sorry It was none of my business It won’t happen again Sorry.”

“Apology accepted You were still flirting.”

“Was not!”

They continued walking As Robbi walked around to the driver’s side of the car she saw an envelope on the windshield “Hello, what is this?” She tore open the envelope, and held up a key for Cas to see.

“A key? A key to what?”

“Now how am I supposed to know? It looks like an ordinary key, but it is a clue Let’s see what we can find out later.” Robbi put the key in her wallet As they both slid into the car, Robbi said, “Speaking of clues, check this out.” She handed Cas a note It was an invitation to lunch with Schmidt

“When did she give you this?”

“She slipped it to me when we shook hands as we were leaving She did not invite you Should I go? Would it be ethical?”

“Well if we were investigating the accident or the institution, I would say no, but since we are supposed to be investigating the security, then I would think that it would be okay It might even be useful Do it!”

“By the way, what was that about the necklace?”

“It may be nothing, but I had the impression that she did not intend for us to see it I think she forgot that she wore it, and then tried to cover it up with her hand.”

“Do you think she was lying about where she got it?”

“No, I don’t think so I did a quick search on line with my glasses computer, but could not find anything useful.”

“Why don’t you check with the FBI guy, what’s his name, Special Agent Ono?”

“Yes, it was Ono I think I will.”

“Did you get pictures with those glasses?”

“Yes, several and a couple of videos”

“Terrific! Well I did my part too I slipped a bug into the seat cushion It was that quarter It really is a transmitter, but it has a limited range.”

“Should we do a wiretap, and also monitor her e-mail?”

“No, it would be a waste of time She had one of those encryption devices on her phone I think everyone has one now days The government has encryption on all government computers That quarter will transmit conversations for a while It is voice activated, and has a one year battery However, all government offices do a sweep for bugs weekly Either they will find it then or housekeeping will find it, and think it is a quarter But we will hear what she had to say about us after we left.”

Cas remembered something “By the way, did you notice that Dr Schmidt referred to Lindberg Two as doctor? She is not a doctor None of the clones are, at least they never attended college.”

“No, I did not catch that Was it just out of habit?”

“Maybe.”

As they exited the compound, Robbi pulled over, and parked near a tree just outside the fence She got out, and took a cross bow device out of the truck Taking aim at the middle of a tree she shot an arrow into the truck When the arrow struck the tree it opened up, and dropped branches that made it look like part of the tree or like mistletoe

As she got back into the car, Robbi answered Cas’ unspoken question, “It is a relay that will boost the signal from that quarter so it will reach our receiver at the hotel Any conversation in that office will be transmitted, and recorded on my computer back at the hotel We’ll find out

what they say about us My clients in this area usually give me card branch on their equipment, even prototypes.”

“I think you mean ‘Carte Blanche’

“Whatever! What did you think about the NRC?”

Cas gathered his thoughts for a minute, and then said, “Something is not right, but I can’t put my finger on it You give me your thoughts first.”

“Okay, I will First of all we were expected Someone tipped them off that we were

coming.”

“How so?”

“Well, for one thing, Schmidt knew who we were Second, all those short skirts, and

plunging necklines; they were meant to distract-eye candy It is no wonder that the FBI and CDC could not find anything They probably had a problem trying to focus I saw a lot of high heels and skirts in there Worker bees don’t wear high heels and skirts at work; they wear flats or even tennis shoes and pants.”

“You could be right I didn’t notice.”

“Well you noticed Helga that’s for sure.”

Cas ignored her remark “I did not notice any men or minorities I find that odd in a

government agency Nor did I see any handicapped workers.”

“Did you notice the high percentage of blondes? It was much higher than would be expected

in a normal office Were you distracted? Did you even notice?”

“I would be lying if I said I didn’t I tried not to In spite of all our high intelligence we are basically mammals with the primeval instincts You were attracted to Dr Andrew because

subconsciously your brain selected him as a possible mate who could provide good off spring and would be as good provider I was attracted to Helga for the same reasons, subconsciously The male brain is wired to notice females Blondes are easier to notice; sad but true.”

Robbi chuckled “You just managed to suck all the romance out of dating Besides, Dr Andrew is different I am going to marry that guy He is the one I never felt so strongly about anything.”

“Well, good luck with that.”

“And it’s Helga now?”

Cas ignored Robbi’s last remark “It seemed to me that Margaret Two’s death caused

genuine grief.”

“Yeah, I thought so too.”

“The clones do not seem to be emotionally attached to the other babies and children They would be siblings.”

As soon as Cas and Robbi arrived back at their hotel, Cas called Special Agent Ono After a twenty minute discussion Cas hung up, and told Robbi, “You were right Ono knows all about the necklace It is the symbol of something called the Phineas Priesthood It has a long history among the Aryan Supremacy hate groups Decades ago members of the Priesthood were declared terrorists for planning to blow up FBI buildings, abortion clinics, and for robbing banks For about ten years the priesthood disappeared, and now has reappeared as a symbol for the

leadership of an Aryan Supremacy group of women who call themselves the Aryan Sisterhood Their headquarters is in Pennsylvania Ono had never seen the necklace in the NRC, and had not made a connection between the NRC and the Sisterhood until today.”

“The victim had an identical necklace,” Robbi pointed out.”

“Apparently, Dr Andrew did not tell Ono because it had no significance to Dr Andrew Special Agent Ono has the Sisterhood headquarters under surveillance They have not been linked to any crimes, but they are definitely against interracial intercourse, the mixing of races, taxation, and government in general They are also anti-men Ono is sending me more

information by e-mail.”

Cas looked down at his computer “Oh, here it is now.” Reading aloud from the screen, “The Phineas Priesthood is named for Phineas, grandson of Aaron In the Bible it says that Phineas killed a fellow Israelite and his Midianite wife with a spear, and ended a plague that was sent by God to punish the Israelites for interracial intercourse, and marrying non-Israelites God

rewarded him by granting that his seed would be an everlasting priesthood.”

Robbi thought about what she just heard for a minute “That does not quite explain why we saw no men inside the NRC today.”

“How do they get away with that? They are a government agency.”

Robbi held up the employee roster she had in her hand “Oh, men on the roster, but they are either in landscaping or perimeter guards Same goes for minorities None inside the building By the way, Helga is listed as the receptionist According to this she has been working there for six months.”

Cas printed out the pictures he had taken, and he and Robbi reviewed them They found nothing unusual

“The problem is that we do not know what we are looking for Why don’t you make that luncheon date with Schmidt? I am going to interview Dr Martinez Maybe he can tell us what to look for If Dr Schmidt asks tell her I am doing some work at the office.”

Cas and Robbi agreed to continue their research, and meet again at nine PM Cas would research the Aryan sisterhood while Robbi continued to research the NRC

Cas called Susan Schmidt, and set a luncheon date for the next day Cas called Dr Martinez, and set up an appointment with him for 10 AM

A few minutes later Robbi rushed into Cas’ room “I called Keith

“Keith?” asked Cas

“Dr Andrew He is coming over with the ID badge, and we are going to dinner Care to join us?”

“No, I’ll order room service I’m in the middle of something.”

“While I am waiting for Keith, let’s order you some wool suits and some decent clothes,” said Robbi

She got online, and found a reputable clothier in the DC area From their web site she opted

to order on line A picture of a mannequin formed on the screen From a pallet of samples Robbi picked out a nice gray suit and a basic navy blue suit which were then shown on the mannequin

A series of questions popped up, and Robbi keyed in the various dimensions that Cas provided The mannequin changed shape accordingly That was followed by a series of questions on style: cuffs, pleats, belts, etc Finally, she selected appropriate shirts, shoes, socks, and several ties After providing payment information a message popped up stating that the suits and clothing would arrive at their hotel within 48 hours Robbi was pleased; Cas not so much

“By Monday you will be the best dressed man in the GAO,” said Robbi with a snicker

“Keith should be here soon to pick me up Are you sure you won’t join us?”

“No, thanks Tell the good doctor I said ‘Hello’.”

Robbi was relieved that Cas declined her offer “Okay I’ll see you later.”

Later at nine, PM Robbi returned to Cas’ room with Dr Keith Andrew “I asked Keith to join us if you don’t mind.”

Cas thought about it for a few seconds, “That’s fine No problem What did your bug pick up?”

“I sent it to you.”

“Oh, I am sorry I did not notice.” Cas opened up an e-mail from Robbi, and opened the attachment.”

“The software automatically transcribes the voice, but, of course, it does not know who is talking.”

Cas clicked on the play button The software played back the recorded voices, and at the same time transcribed the voices into words on the monitor

“I sent you only this part After this, there isn’t much else-nothing important.”

The recording started The monitor read ‘Voice #1 “Well, what do you think? Same BS we usually get from the GAO?”

“That is Kim Phillips, the Director of Security,” said Keith

Robbi agreed with Keith “That makes sense We left her with Schmidt.”

The recording continued with Voice #2, “I don’t think so, and I don’t like it.”

Keith pointed at the monitor “That is definitely Dr Schmidt.”

Voice #2 continued, “This is not the same Dr Novak was brought in by Morgan on special assignment I think the GAO is just a cover What about Kelly?”

“Oh, she is legit,” answered Phillips “She asked all the right questions Plus, she knew how

to read wire diagrams.”

“Well, I don’t like it,” said Schmidt “Not one bit I am going to have dinner tonight on my yacht with Ann and Elyse Why don’t you join? Seven PM We have to do something about this.”

“I’ll be there,” answered Phillips

“Interesting,” said Cas “Can we bug her yacht?”

“It is too late, Cas They already had the meeting.”

“Oh, right Too bad.”

back to top

*##*

Chapter 6—Saturday, October 11, 2031

The day was sunny, but cold with a little ground fog in the morning Martinez’s home was in Springfield, Virginia in a typical bedroom community where the price of real estate is based on the distance to the rail line Instead of a lawn, the front yard was covered in day lilies of various varieties Cas suspected that the backyard was too It must take hours to maintain them, thought Cas Day lilies must be dead-headed daily The elderly gentleman who answered the door could easily have been mistaken for the gardener He was wearing blue jeans and an old T-shirt that stated “I am green to the bone”, and had dried paint in spots He smelled like compost

“You must be Dr Cas Novak,” said the gentleman “Come in I was working out back I am trying to crossbreed a couple of prize day lilies Come in Come in.” He removed his gloves to shake hands.

Cas shook the proffered hand, and stepped into the house, “Yes, I am Dr Casmir Novak, but

my friends call me Cas.”

“I am Dr Edward Martinez, but I prefer Edward not Ed.’

“Of course, Edward We have a mutual friend in Senator Morgan.”

Edward smiled “I would call him more of an ally than a friend.” Pointing for Cas to sit down in the living room, “I am trying to help him expose the NRC for what it is.”

“And exactly what is the NRC?”

Edward’s voice rose, “It’s a hoax, a scam, a con game It is all fake.”

“Senator Morgan said we should talk You were the first to clone yourself, were you not?”

“Yes, yes, so I should know, but no one is listening to me because their clones are too good

to be true as they say,” answered Edward, his voice still raised He sat back in his chair, and lowered his voice “Perhaps you will meet my son, the clone, if he isn’t out drinking or otherwise getting into trouble The NRC may be right about one thing I should have made him a girl A girl would have been easier to handle.”

“But I saw a young boy at the NRC He looked to be nine or ten.”

“Really? I am surprised He must be the token male clone; probably an accident.”

“Please walk me through the process of cloning so I will know what to look for in my investigation I am out of my league.”

“Where to begin?” said Edward more for theatrical effect than a question “First of all, cloning a human is very much like the reproductive process Except in cloning, much like

breeding day lilies, the goal is to create a being with certain desirable traits Legally, there are a limited number of things you can do to the DNA to get those traits If the laws change then the concept of designer babies would be a reality I for one think that would be a disaster Now the NRC would take a liberal view that by altering the DNA we could rid the human race of all diseases, and maybe even death itself.”

Cas started taking notes “The NRC claims to clone high intelligence,”

Edward pointed his finger in the air “Not exactly Not by cloning anyway Altering DNA for intelligence is still not legal What the NRC claims is that they have invented a machine that will transfer the intelligence and memory from one person, in this case a Noble Prize winner, into a clone And that is a critical point Everyone’s brain is slightly different; like finger prints

To transfer knowledge from one part of the brain to another brain, the two brains have to be identical Otherwise the second brain would interpret that information as a garble mess or a nightmare or it may even cause insanity That much the scientific community agrees upon.”

“But,” said Cas, interrupting the doctor “The NRC claims their machine that will do just that That is the purpose of using clones The two brains should be identical.”

Raising his voice again, Edward pointed out, “Should be! Precisely! The brains of clones do not match their donor one hundred percent It is closer than siblings or twins, but it is not an exact copy If my son stops by I will show that his finger prints are even different than mine.” Sitting back in his seat, and lowering his voice, “That brings us to the second point The brain has over one hundred billion neurons, yet it operates on a very low caloric energy A machine, however, to perform this copy function would need five hundred thousand 850 megahertz

processors That is a lot of power Now I have not seen the generator at the NRC, but a colleague

of mine calculated that without a very large generator whenever the brain transfer machine

operates it should drain the grid for over a hundred mile radius, and cause a wide spread black or brown out That is not happening.”

“So I should look at the generator?”

“Precisely! The other issue is that there is a lot more to knowledge than can be transferred from one brain to another For example, you might be able to transfer the knowledge of how to ride a bike or even something as simple as walking A child has to learn how to do these things through trial and error As the child learns, the muscles and nervous system create pathways through the synapses, and through repetition the skill becomes ingrain, and easier to perform You could not explain, for example, to someone who has never walked how it’s done Your body knows, but your brain doesn’t We would expect that the NRC clones would have problems doing simple things like walking, talking, and eating However, they seem to have mastered these skills rapidly It just is not possible Their bodies may be fully grown, but they do not have the eighteen to twenty years of experience it takes to master them If you observe the clones look for abnormal behavior of their motor skills Clones should appear awkward doing minor things.”

“So the brain machine does not work?” asked Cas

“I don’t know The NRC won’t share that information I would be surprised if it did, but in theory it might be possible.”

“That brings up the claim that NRC has discovered a way to increase the growth rate in the clones so that they have a mature adult in two years,” said Cas “What is your take on that?”

“What else could they say? It would not make much sense to put all that knowledge in the body of a two year old They are lying about that I think that the clones and the donors are one and the same You never see them together Ask if they can show you both at the same time; not pictures, but the real McCoys.”

“I think all the donors are dead now.”

“How convenient.”

“But I saw a nursery of baby clones.”

“Fake! They were not clones It is a skin farm They use fetuses to grown new skin that they use on the women who claim to be clones It makes them look much younger If you noticed, they are not feeding the babies any formula Babies that young need to be fed every two hours.”

“But I saw older clones in another room.”

“Did you now? Did they let you look at them up close? I doubt it If you did you would notice that they are much older than they claim to be It is all a hoax Try to get a closer look.”Cas looked at his notes, “Okay, generator, skin farm, awkward motor skills, baby clones What else should we look for?”

“Well, they have a dentist on the staff Look at his files if you can I would venture she makes the so called clones teeth look younger As a matter-of-fact, check out those

dermatologists or plastic surgeons or whatever they are I bet they are doing skin grafts to make the fake clones look younger, and removing moles and blemishes so people think they are

clones I would also try to follow the money trail They receive billions of dollars, but where is it going? You won’t find billions spent on equipment because it is all fake.”

As Edward was speaking a teenager wandered past down the hall

“Dale,” shouted Dr Martinez, “Would you come in here, please I want you to meet

someone.”

A voice from the hall yelled back, “I am not a freak! Tell him to go to the circus if he wants

to see a freak show!”

Martinez looked at Cas, and shrugged his shoulders “Rebellious teenager! He inherited my temper, sarcasm, and rudeness, but seems to be controlled by hormones.”

“Have you ever considered transcribing your knowledge to him?”

“Good God, no! Consider if he gained my knowledge of women, which is zero, for example

He would be condemned to be a life time bachelor like me At least now he will have a chance.”Cas laughed, and stood up, “Well doctor, I need to check these things out Please give me your contact information I would like you to join our team as a consultant I am sure we can agree on proper compensation.”

“Are you kidding? I will do it pro bono if it means finally revealing this fraud to the

American people If I can be of service, count me in.”

a low-cal dip,” she said as Robbi approached the table Oh goodie, thought Robbi

After a few pleasantries, Schmidt said, “I wanted to have lunch with you in hopes that we could become friends I know how tough it is working for the government Maybe I can help you I have been working for the NRC for ten years now so I know the ropes, and I have a few connections.”

Robbi smiled “Thank you I can use all the help I can get.”

“I hope you have not completely abandoned your counter-espionage company You will do better there than in the government The GAO is no different They have no women above the rank of assistant director.”

Robbi smiled again, “Have you been checking up on me?”

“Of course I am sure you have been checking up on me as well or else you are not as smart

as I think you are.”

“I have Your career has been remarkable You started your own business, and are a

multimillionaire; quite impressive!”

“I wish that I could say I was lucky, but it has nothing to do with luck, and everything to do with hard work I started my own company because I could see I would never get ahead by doing research on government grants, and begging for handouts.”

“But you gave that up to work for the NRC?”

“Yeah, well, Ann Smith, the former head of the NRC recruited me She can be very

persuasive It was not about the money anymore; Lord knows I have plenty of that.”

“So what is it about?”

“It’s about helping people.”

“You mean finding a cure for diseases?”

Schmidt chuckled “That is really a by-product Ann has dedicated herself to helping women advance their careers in a male dominated society, a testosterone culture.”

“How so?”

“Her major contribution has been in politics She formed a PAC, a political action

committee, whose sole purpose is to help women get elected, and get ahead in politics She has helped hundreds of women get elected by making significant contributions to their campaign

funds She also mentors them They in turn mentor, and help other women The list includes senators, congresswomen, governors, and many others in the government.”

“Do they really need help?”

“Have you ever heard of EMILY’s list?”

“No.”

“It was a PAC formed in 1984 EMILY stands for Early Money is Like Yeast It was a financial network for pro-choice Democratic women running for national political offices It was very successful at increasing the number of women politicians, and impacting the pro-choice movement Smith’s PAC is like EMILY’s list, but it is bipartisan We hope to be even more successful.”

“I can understand the need in 1984, but do women really need help now?”

“Come on Robbi You’re a smart woman You can see that in spite of all the progress

women have made, we are still held back by the men; men who in most cases are less

intelligent.”

“Is that what you do?”

“Not exactly Ann recruited me to run the NRC, and free her up to run the PAC We have supporters sprinkled throughout the government They provide Ann with the intelligence needed

to know when and where to help Our supporters are everywhere except the GAO I am hoping

we could count on you to be a supporter.”

“I’m the new girl on the block; I don’t see how I can help.”

“The GAO gets into everyone’s knickers Believe me, you are going to see a lot You can provide us with inside information that may be useful if it gets into the right hands.”

Schmidt ordered a second cosmopolitan “Are you and Cas a couple?”

Robbi smiled “He is my business partner.”

“I did not mean to pry I know he is much older, but very handsome, I feel He has a very good reputation He seems very nice I like him.”

“We’re related by marriage; my step-father is his brother.”

“I see That must be awkward He is not married?”

“No, his wife died five years ago-cancer.”

“Oh, I am sorry to hear that He’s not dating?”

Robbi was beginning to feel uncomfortable with this line of questioning She decided to keep her responses short “No.”

“I checked up on Cas and Senator Morgan I discovered that they have been friends since college CAS has been Morgan’s campaign manager, and was his chief of staff when he was governor of California It seems they are best friends.”

“I guess so I only met the senator on Thursday.”

“If you did not notice, he is a real pig-an asshole He has been hell bent on stopping the cloning project for two years now

Robbi was not sure where this conversation was going “He asked us to limit our review to just the security aspect.”

While they were being served, Robbi observed that the restaurant staff was all female and all white Some, but not many, of the customers were male and/or minorities, but not the staff “This

is a nice restaurant; I’ll have to bring CAS back here.” She wasn’t serious, just making

conversation

“If you do, mention my name The owner is a good friend of mine; one of the women I mentor She’ll take good care of you.”

The two women continued to talk for another hour After the meal Robbi thought that Schmidt would pick up the tab either because she was filthy rich or the owner would make it on the house To her surprise, Schmidt suggested that Robbi expense the meal to the GAO.

As the two women collected their coats Robbi noticed that Susan was wearing a customized trench coat from Rasberry, an expensive online, London based fashion house It had leather cuff straps that corresponded to leather epaulets and was topped off with a black fox-fur collar Robbi estimated the cost to be $9,000 if it was a nickel

Cas was already back from his meeting with Schmidt when Robbi arrived at their hotel

“How was your tête-à-tête with Schmidt.”

“My what?”

“How was lunch?”

“Okay I think she was trying to recruit me or trying to find out how much we knew; like a game of cat and mouse She asked about you too I think she might have a thing for you She had some choice words for Senator Morgan.”

Cas briefed Robbi on his meeting with Dr Martinez.“I think we will have to infiltrate the NRC, and check for these things that Martinez mentioned.”

“We? I think you mean me You can’t infiltrate an all-female facility You would stick out like a sore thumb.” She giggled at the thought “You know what I mean But first, I need a few things Let me take the car while you stay here and do some more research.”

They agreed to meet for dinner

Later, Cas was working at his computer when he heard the door open He did not glance up because he assumed it was Robbi A woman entered his room, and threw her car keys on the desk Cas glanced up, and then jumped up Instead of the red-headed Robbi, a blonde woman with large breasts stood before him The thing that frightened him was the face; it was Margaret Two’s face

Robbi removed the death mask “Oh, don’t get all excited, it is just me It is just a mask Keith has this plastic stuff that you just heat up and put on a face, and it molds itself to the facial features I had to cut out the eye holes It is skin colored, and you can put make up on it I’ll need

it for the security system tonight

Cas stared for a few seconds “Oh my God! It is you! And the breasts? I hope they are not Margaret’s.”

“It is amazing what a good push up bra and blonde wig will do, isn’t it? Watch this.” Robbi removed a small remote from her purse, and pushed a button Immediately, Cas heard a low whirling sound, and Robbi’s beasts grew bigger

“It’s the latest thing-automatic breasts It works on air.” She reduced her breasts a couple of sizes “They need to look natural Take a look, and tell me if my cleavage looks okay.”

Cas could not look at Robbi’s breasts, but concentrated on looking at her eyes

“Come on Cas, they won’t bite They aren’t real I used makeup to make my cleavage look bigger I need you to tell me if it straight, and how it looks Now look at my cleavage.”

Cas let his eyes fall to Robbi’s chest Between her breasts Robbi used eye shadow and make

up to create a false shadow of a cleavage “Wow! Yes, it does look real, and it is straight You, you look totally different.”

“Yeah, well don’t get used to it I feel like whore It comes right off in the morning I am hoping that since Margaret Two is dead, they did not bother to take her out of the security

program By the way, Keith is going to take me, and pick me up.”

For the next hour Cas reviewed what Robbi should be looking for: the size of the generator, the nursery, dental files, medical records As they were finishing, Keith arrived

Keith did not bother to remove his coat He figured they would leave right away “How will you get inside?”

Robbi sat down on the bed, “Got that figured out Places like the NRC use special laundries that provide sterile lab coats and linen I found out who does their laundry I paid them a visit, flashed my GAO badge, and threatened to audit their financials They were more than willing to cooperate They make their last delivery around eight PM I will hide in a linen cart until it is safe to go exploring with my camera When the shifts change at eleven, I will just walk out with the second shift You can pick me up.”

“By the way, doctor,” said Keith

“Please, Cas,” interrupted Cas

“Okay, Cas,” continued Keith “I have your answer about the strain of anthrax, and it turns out you were right Margaret Two was working with the Ames strain The strain that killed her was a Vollum strain; Vollum 1B to be exact It is very dangerous, but the last reported death was back in 1951 That was also an accidental exposure to a researcher We also tested her blood, and found no antibiotics; not that it would help against Vollum 1B.”

“Is it possible that Margaret switched to Vollum 1B during the testing, and accidently

Chapter 7—Undercover in the NRC

A few hours later the sterile laundry company backed up to the NRC loading dock, and unloaded four carts of sterile linen On the loading dock consisted of several robotic platforms The driver loaded each laundry cart onto a platform, punched in a code, and the robotic carts delivered the sterile laundry carts

Robbi’s cart was sent to a closet on the first floor Robbi lay still for thirty minutes, and then climbed out of her cart On her clip board was the floor plans for the NRC She decided to start at the bottom and work up She figured with her disguise and a clip board no one would question her She strutted as if she knew where she was going so as not to draw attention to herself She followed the signs to the main elevators Thankfully, the elevators had no security requirements She rode the elevator to the basement

It did not take her long to find the generator room Margaret’s ID badge opened the door She took several pictures of the generator and transfer switches Next door was the electrical room where she took several more pictures

Down the hall was a room with double metal fire doors The signage said, “Danger” and

“Authorized Personnel Only”, so Robbi figured it was important This time Margaret Two’s ID badge did not work Robbi saw a facial scanner next to the door She put on Margaret’s death

mask, stood on a designated spot on the floor, and pushed the scan button A green line started at her chin, and moved upward A second green line scanned the mask from left to right When the scan was complete, a buzzing noise told her that the door was now unlocked

Robbi entered a large store room with eight large pillars in the room A glance at the floor plan told Robbi that these pillars were the main support columns for the interior of the building Around each pillar were stacks of pallets loaded with fifty pounds bags The labels on the pallets identified them as ice melt Other pallets contained fifty five gallon drums labels as emergency water That was not unusual since many government building were designate shelters

It did not seem right to Robbi First was the odor; it smelled like a compost pile A second odor smelled like gasoline She opened one of the bags labeled ice melt, but instead of ice melt it contained fertilizer She did not have to open the drums; one was leaking gasoline Each stack was wired to the next with C-4 plastic det cord and some type of detonator Robbi took several photographs

On top of the detonator was a small blinking light that caught Robbi’s attention She

examined it more closely, and saw the words CHARGED and LOW BATTERY printed next to the light The light above the word ‘CHARGED’ was the one blinking She also noticed that the device was plugged into a wall outlet Robbi unplugged it

Robbi worked her way back to the main elevators, and entered As she reached for the buttons to go up she saw a key slot above the top button On impulse she tried the key she was given, and it fit She turned the key, and the elevator proceeded to the roof When the doors opened she stepped outside into the cool night air On the roof was a helicopter landing pad complete with landing lights and a wind sock Robbi took a few pictures then took the elevator down to the second floor

Robbi located the dentist office, and the ID badge gained her access She was afraid to turn

on the lights so she used a pen light to search He had hoped to find filing cabinets, but all

government agencies were now paperless No luck there She tried the plastic surgeons’ offices, but had no luck there either

Robbi found the knowledge transfer room empty Using Margaret Two’s mask she entered, and took a few pictures Again, no filing cabinets, but she did find some documents on

Lindberg’s desk One document appeared to be log of each time the transcriber machine was used The log included dates, names and data transcribed The log had eight to ten entries for each day Most of the names meant nothing to Robbi, but she did recognize some of the names of the children she had met yesterday Of course, the only male name, Stephane, stood out

Most of the entries under the data column had the word ‘Aryan’ However, she saw that Stephane was listed nearly daily, and the entry said, “French” Robbi took pictures of the log.The clone babies’ room was occupied, but she was able to take a few pictures by hiding the camera with her clip board Finally, she located the anthrax lab

Robbi took some pictures through the lab windows Then she used the code that Dr Andrew gave her to unlock the vestibule, and entered She took a couple of pictures of the PPE in the vestibule Once she felt she had enough pictures she started to enter the main lab Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder As she started to turn, something struck her head, and she blacked out

The next thing Robbi knew she awoke lying on the floor of the main lab The lights were flashing, and a loud buzzer was sounding She sat up, still groggy, and felt the lump on the back

of her head It took a few seconds for her to realize that she was inside the main lab, and

something was going on The she remembered the robot

“R2,” she called out No response She said aloud, “Damn! What was the name? Oh Yeah Jimbo!”

This time the door to the charging station opened, and Jimbo rolled out, and looked around

“Good Evening, Ms Kelly How may I be of service?”

“Jimbo, what is going on?” Robbi asked before Jimbo had finished

“Teh alarm is going off as a warnign that the lab will begin deontamination in two minutes.”

“Will it kill me?”

“Yes The decontamination will every living thing in the lab You should exit the lab

immediately.”

Robbi jumped up, and tried the door It was locked “How do I get out?”

“Teh door os locked from the outside No one is supposed to be in the lab during

decontamination You should exit the lab immediately.”

“How much time do I have before decontamination?”

“One minute thirty two seconds You should exit the lab immediately.”

“Stop telling me what to do ,and call security.”

“I am not programmed to perform that operation.”

“Damn it, Jimbo Get me out of here!”

“I do not have a program for that function.”

“How much time now?”

“One minute twelve seconds.”

“Jimbo, can you break that glass in the window?”

“No, Ms Kelly That glass is lead lined to prevent anthrax from escaping It is two inches thick The glass cannot be broken from insuide the lab It was designerds that way.”

“Damn it, Jimbo! Don’t you have any short answers?”

“I do not understand the question.”

“Never mind Start recording; audio and visual I need to leave a message Start a count down Every ten seconds.”

“Record mode on.”

“To Cas This was not accident Someone knocked me out, and dragged me in here

Whoever did this killed me.”

“Sixty seconds remaining until decontamination begins.”

Robbi was startled to hear a voice over the speakers

“It’s okay, I can shut it off No need for drama.”

Immediately the lights stopped flashing, and the loud buzzer stopped A few seconds later the door opened It took Robbi a couple of seconds to clear her head, and focus on the person standing in front of her “I recognize you! You’re one of the clones, right?”

“Correct,” said Martha Two “I heard the alarm go off I am Martha Two, and you are the investigator from the GOA, Roberta Kelly”

Robbi instinctively reached up to her hair

“Your blonde wig fell off in the vestibule,” said Martha Two as she handed Robbi her wig

“I picked it up for you It’s not a very good wig.”

Robbi chuckled “Well, I work with what I have Was anyone else there, holding a baton or club or a brick, by chance?”

Martha Two laughed “No such luck Whoever knocked you out got away Let’s go to my apartment It might be better to bring you there instead of calling 911 I assumed you are

undercover Must not blow your cover, right?”

“How did you know I was knocked out?”

“I heard you recording as I came in.”

“Oh!” whelped Robbi as she felt the lump starting to rise on her head “What hit me?”

“I think it was this.” Martha Two pointed to a heavy duty electric stapler on the floor

“Maybe you can get a finger print or something useful off of it.”

“I doubt it, but I will have the FBI check it anyway,” Robbi said as she picked up the stapler

“You have a bump coming up on your forehead too The blow to the back of your head must have knocked you out instantly, and you fell forward Your head struck the floor first You are lucky you did not break your nose.”

“Yeah, it’s my lucky day.”

Martha Two helped Robbi out of the lab Robbi stopped long enough to re-lock it They walked to Martha Two’s apartment, and Robbi sat down in the living room as Martha Two went

to the kitchen to get a glass of water Robbi checked her pockets for her camera; it was gone

“Did you happen to see a camera?” she asked when Martha Two returned with a glass of water

“No, just the stapler Sorry Oh, I almost forgot I found this in the vestibule too.” She handed Margaret Two’s death mask to Robbi “Rather gross.”

Robbi nodded, and looked at her watch “Well, I have to go Someone is picking me up in front.”

“No, you are going to sit here until I am satisfied that you are not suffering from a

concussion.” Robbi made a face “Or I can call security.”

“If I sit here for a while you won’t call security?

“Correct.”

“How long?”

“Well I would normally say one hour, but under the circumstances, let’s say just thirty minutes, shall we?”

“Ok, thirty minutes,” Robbi agreed “You heard the alarm?”

“Yes You were lucky again.” Both women laughed

“Oh!” cried Robbi “It hurts to laugh.”

“That is not a good sign It should wear off soon.”

“As long as I have to stay here, can I ask you a few questions?”

“Okay, but let me ask you first,” answered Martha “The guy that was with you, Casmir Novak, does he go by Cas or Cash?”

“Cas Do you know him?”

“No Yesterday was the first time we actually met But I was living in California when Steve was governor Cas was his chief of staff as I recall Some of the programs he recommended for the state made so much money that the media started pronouncing his name as ‘Cash’.” In a deep voice that sounded much like Steve’s voice, “Call me Steve.”

“Wow, Steve Morgan You do a good imitation Have you met him?”

“He comes around the NRC sometimes I have met him He acts like a jerk.” Both women laughed again

“Steve?” thought Robbi; “Martha Two is a little too familiar with the senator.”

“That did not hurt this time?”

“Oh, no, it did not Is that good?”

“You had a mild concussion You’ll be okay.”

Robbi heard a noise from the other room, and turned her head quickly “You have

company?” She closed her eyes to the pain caused by the sudden turning of her head